Redemption Reapers review – Plan your next move carefully

In the heat of battle, things can quickly turn bad and snowball out of control very quickly if you’re not careful. The same goes for tactical games, where one bad move can lead you down a path of destruction and cost your allies. In Redemption Reapers, players will need to understand how to use the hand they’re dealt in each level to best take down the hordes of Mort.

Throughout their time in Redemption Reapers, players will command a group of the Hawk team dedicated to fighting off the waves of the Mort monsters, a fierce goblin-like enemy. Each move will need to be planned carefully and each battle prepared for, as the Mort will not give you the chance to make a second mistake. It’s not impossible though as long as you train your fighters and take each fight as it comes.

While it can be unforgiving, there’s a lot of detail to the world and characters that are worth seeking out if you can. There’s a whole world of lore to explore, with Redemption Reapers clearly endeavoring to create a unique fantasy experience.

A standard fantasy adventure in a ravaged land

When the player starts the game, they’ll be subject to a scene where a village is being raided by an outside force of monsters. These goblin-like creatures have been passing over the countryside in large groups, destroying literally every society that they come across. The raid players are introduced to is just the latest in the Mort’s long journey across the country.

There are multiple heroes that players will be able to control throughout the course of the game, but they start with just a couple of them on the first level. This is a hard introduction to the game’s difficulty, which can’t be altered in any way. Redemption Reapers makes sure you know that each move matters from the get-go, with it being possible to completely lose within the first five moves if you aren’t careful.

This difficulty isn’t game-breaking, it just goes to prove the strength of the Mort as they’ve been able to decimate entire villages. It only makes sense that your heroes would need to be careful when fighting hordes of them, so it’s not the worst thing in the world. That being said, it throws you into a hard level immediately, which doesn’t leave much room to become familiar with the controls.

There are a number of UI issues that make the game feel very basic, such as there being no easy way to load back into the previous Chapter’s screen without quitting the main menu. One of the downsides is how unapproachable the menu screens are, preventing the player from doing many things easily.

One of the more interesting parts of the story of the game is the pieces of lore that you can find written across each level. You’ll need to finish the level successfully after picking them up, which can be an issue at first, but they usually provide context into the area before it was taken over by the monsters. These messages are great world-building, even if the ones written by “children” don’t read that way.

Each of the characters feels pretty unique, with players unlocking more as they’re able to progress through the chapters. It’s not as easy as it sounds though, as each level will require careful planning and the smart use of your resources. The actual strategy of this game requires that players fail time and time again before they’re allowed to succeed.

When at first you don’t succeed, fail about six more times

If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy having to repeat the same level over and over again, then you probably will not enjoy Redemption Reapers. The game is very punishing to players who aren’t very tactical in their choices, so running into a horde of enemies will obviously lead to your party’s untimely demise. It’s much smarter to pick off enemies one by one until you get a range of characters.

As a tactical game, it’s actually pretty enjoyable once you become familiar with the way the systems work and how to use specific character skills. It feels really good when you’re able to plan a successful maneuver that gets rid of multiple enemies and really disappointing when you lose a party member because you miscalculated.

There’s a standard range of character classes across the typical range of standard RPG roles, such as a rogue or a swordsman. The game doesn’t really shine until you’re able to unlock more fighters and execute more complicated plays on the field. However, even your best plays can lead to death if you haven’t leveled the characters up enough.

One of the downsides is that the game doesn’t tell you that you need to train your characters in between each of the story missions. You can have them run Skirmishes from the menu after each match, which allows the characters to explore previous levels with simpler objectives. This can help you level your heroes and collect items or resources that were left behind in the story mission.

The game provides simple tutorials for different features, but it doesn’t explain some of the finer points of the mechanics that new players might need. It’s a hard line to walk and Redemption Reapers doesn’t seem to try all that hard to tell players what to do, instead providing the bare bones and inviting them to figure it out from there. This can work for those willing to put in effort but may seem unapproachable to some.

There are no difficulty options, so players will have to take the game as they see it. It’s a pretty difficult journey from the very beginning, and some players might not enjoy the learning curve that’s required. Even when you do get the hang of it, it’s a pretty standard strategy RPG that does feel good to succeed in. These moments are fleeting, though, compared to the huge losses you’ll have to eat repeatedly.

Our Redemption Reapers review was written based on the PC version of the game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!